


sun's down

by kinpika



Series: drunk in love, i want you [7]
Category: Sweet Elite (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, alcohol consumption, be the supportive friend you know you should be, especially when she's dancing on a bed, swallow your feelings its the only way to cope, well past both your bedtimes lol, with strangers all around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 07:29:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15601350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinpika/pseuds/kinpika
Summary: “Are youlyingto me?”Despite the singsong tone, Harper’s harmless question does manage to catch him off guard.





	sun's down

It was about the time he was going to turn in, really, before he had an actual reason to leave. Not that _the reason_ was actually aware of it for the time being, which meant there was time for damage control tomorrow. Right now, Axel stood, hands at the ready for the fall.

Harper, for her effort (which was a lot), danced on the bed alongside a few other students from her department. Whatever stress she was clearly under only a few hours prior had completely dissipated, a direct focus on the red cup in her hands. Axel didn’t know a lot about anything, really, but he knew that there was an issue there, waiting to happen. At least this was a once off thing — or, well, he hoped so, anyway.

Long since he’d given up on calling her name to get her attention. Raquel had left him to his business, clearly a little disappointed that he’d rather not party on, and worry for Harper instead. She said something, about the not-crush he had, ruining everything (whatever a not-crush was). Later he’d complain to her, but right now, Harper seemed to have finally hit the softer part of the mattress, and begun her descent thanks to gravity.

Good thing he was ready, because no one in the nearby vicinity was. With an _oof_ , Axel manages to catch her. Not that he would say it to her face — and he would blame it on gravity and speed if she ever heard him — but Harper was heavier than she looked. Getting her upright was even harder than waiting for nearly ten minutes with his arms out waiting, as she just giggled and dropped her cup, arms around him. 

Thank god she was cute, because Axel wasn’t sure how to feel about the way she was hugging him. She wouldn’t remember this in the morning. 

“Harper, I’m taking you to your room.”

“Noooooo!” A long, drawn out sound that was almost a wail. Not that she was likely capable of moving her feet, with how she dragged a little. Raquel owed him big time. Just how much did she put in the punch this time? 

“Yes, you are.” Some part of Axel knew that doing weights and keeping fit would pay off eventually, when he hooks an arm under her knees. Thankfully, Harper kept her arms around his neck as he lifted her up, and whatever part of her remained sober seemed to realise that a strong hold meant safety. “You have an assignment due tomorrow.”

Scandalised, Harper gasps, almost lets go. “No! Do I?”

Rolling his eyes, Axel gets through the crowd with a few ‘excuse me’s and ‘move it’s. Ignores the pointed looks. Ignores the few phones pointed his way. Damage control could wait, especially when Harper was looking at him like _that_.

“Yeah, a huge one. You said you just needed to finish the hem or something.”

“Are you _lying_ to me?” 

Despite the singsong tone, Harper’s harmless question does manage to catch him off guard. No, he wasn’t. She really did have something due tomorrow, an extension given as she was assisting Axel with his own stuff. Apparently, helping a musician counted for something, even if it was only one day. Harper was pretty much finished, but was nitpicking over a hem, only hours before. Axel was the one who convinced her to let loose for once and well. 

Now he couldn’t even get to her room, with how tightly packed the hallway was. That left only a few options. Putting her back in Raquel’s room and hanging around until people started to leave, or go to his as it was a little closer.

Curious eyes were following, and through the crowd Axel could spot a few familiar faces. And see the door to his room within reach. Fuck it. 

“‘Scuse me,” he insists, trying to balance Harper as he goes for his doorknob. Completely ignores how it meant the hand that had been resting on her waist going to hold her up by her ass, while he reached with his other. A careful balancing act, hindered only by whispers that followed. Damage control could wait for another day, when he gets the door with a small ‘a-ha!’. 

Harper, ever helpful, was starting to drop her weight completely on him. With some effort, Axel gets the door open, edging her in before he kicks it closed behind him, and realises she was falling asleep. 

His first thought was: well, that lasted long. His second was: sleep? _Sleep_.

Whether that was aimed at himself, or the both of them, Axel couldn’t say wholeheartedly. Ignoring the burning amount of embarrassment that was starting to become apparent, when he set Harper down on his bed, he had half a mind to turn the fan on, if only to help himself. No, nothing to do with her being in his room, in his _space_. Considering that their personal bubbles intermingled quite often and so gently, this wasn’t setting him off.

Nor was the idea of undressing, as Harper was part of the fashion department, and more than once he’d been backstage watching the quick changes happen. Even in his own shows, it was a regular thing between sets. No, no, none of that was bothering him. 

Just the knowledge that she wasn’t quite awake, and Axel wasn’t sure what the procedure was. He wanted to get her comfortable, but his hands could only hover over the buttons of her top, while his eyes remained on her face. This was bordering on a situation that could be viewed several different ways by those on the other side of his door, even if Axel knew wholeheartedly he was just trying to do the right thing.

“Harper, wake up for a moment.” Patting her cheek gently, Axel watches how she scrunches her face, eyebrows falling together and a hand going to cover her eyes. God, he found her so cute at all the wrong times.

But he persisted, if only because he knew she would do the same for him. “Come on. You need to get comfortable.”

“I am,” a mumble that was more of a whine. She was lying, because in no more than three hours, she’d be awake and complaining about her back. 

“No, you’re not. Get up, _up_.” 

It takes a lot to encourage her upright, and to place her own hands over her buttons. Making sure she was starting to get her shirt off, Axel takes the time to make a dash for his dresser, finding an old shirt and boxers. All he really had, in the grand scheme of things, as everything else he owned was just as uncomfortable as the jeans she was trying to sleep in. 

Harper had managed to get at least three buttons undone, and another two looped through the wrong hole in the time he’d taken. Despite everything Axel felt, he couldn’t help the charmed smiled grace him. What an effect she had on him, huh. Raquel was right to say he was in deeper than he’d ever been. 

Kneeling in front of her, Axel finishes the rest, as Harper tries her best to not intervene. She babbles, about the party, about Raquel, about some kid in her department who hadn’t said a word to her until tonight. 

When Axel was pushing the shirt off her shoulders, focusing on threading her arms through without making her tip over, he realises she had fallen silent. Realised that he’d drawn closer, staring up at her from under his lashes. It was hazy and whatever music in the hallway that had been playing, fell quiet. “Harper?” he ends on a question, because there was nothing else for him to say.

“Thank you.” Definitive and short, accompanied with a smile so sunny, Axel had to look away. 

Axel gets her left arm out of the sleeve, and focuses on folding her shirt. “Anytime,” he replies, and he meant it. Anytime, he echoes to himself, as he gives her a moment to take off her singlet, swapping for his shirt. When she lets off an angry noise, Axel turns to see her fighting with the button on her jeans, and he thinks _yes, anytime at all_. 


End file.
